Mater,matris reminded me of "matriculate", as to become enrolled in a college that becomes your "alma mater."I was surprised to find that the derivation is not as direct as I thought. Matrix is ancient word for womb, currently for a list. So matriculating is just getting yourname on a list. Nothing parental except the big bills forpapa to pay.

I thought I'd posted the answer to Faldo's original query shortly after he'd posted it, but for some reason it didn't stick. I agree that it's 3rdD Fem, but, like jheem, I assumed it was a trick question.

It wasn't a trick question. The reason I didn't look it up was that I was at work and the onliest Latin references I know on the web assume you already know the declension. The reason I asked was for an answer to the question, 'What is the plural of alma mater?' By the time I got the answer to my question, the answer, 'almae matres,' had already been posted in the original forum.

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